My top 25 sets #12: 2002 Topps Gallery

Set  2002 Topps Gallery
Number of cards in set: 200
Affordability: 9
Key RCs:  Joe Mauer
Is the set built?:   100% complete

What I like about this set:  The art.  The explanation doesn't get much simpler than that.  I've long been a fan of cards that are produced from drawings, and this set is no stranger to that love.  The art is first rate, as you can see from the Jim Thome card above.  The set is also smaller in size, which made it easier to complete.

What made this set really interesting for me as a collector were the backs of the card.  The backs had a lot of the regular elements you might see, team logo, bio/height/weight/age of the player, but the stats were quite unique.  There was only one years worth of stats, which was the 2001 season, broken down by month.  Definitely a different take on stats, but kind of fitting because you didn't see sets that were as different as Topps Gallery was.

What I don't like about this set:   Call me finicky.  300 cards would have made this set that much better. 

This is a set that I would have fun putting together again if needed.  The cards weren't too hard to obtain, and there were a few SP veterans/HOFers that added to the appeal of the set as well. 

Before there were lockouts and strikes: Lyman Bostock

'76 topps #263

Lyman's is a tragic story of what could have been.  Lyman was murdered by a jealous husband in the back seat of his uncle's car just hours after a game in Chicago against the White Sox.  The woman he was sitting in the back seat with he had known for all of 20 minutes.  Lyman was only 28 years old at the time, and had the better part of his career ahead of him. 

After 3 solid seasons with the Twins, Bostock signed as a free agent with the California Angels in 1978.  In what is a legendary story about him, in April of '78 after hitting a paltry .150, Bostock went to Angels owner Gene Autry and offered to return his salary.  Autry declined, and Bostock wound up donating that months salary to charity, feeling that his poor play didn't merit him his salary.

Scary stat:  You can't tell me that winning doesn't influence the MVP vote.  Let's compare Bostock's 1977 numbers to that of Mickey Rivers. 

Bostock:  .336 avg, 199 hits, 14 HR, 90 RBI, 16 steals---  played for Minnesota (84-77)
Rivers:     .326 avg., 184 hits, 12 HR, 69 RBI, 22 steals--- played for New York Yankees (100-62)

Rivers receives 59 vote points for MVP, Bostock receives 2 vote points for MVP. 

This argument gets shot down though, because the 1977 MVP was Rod Carew, who played for the Twins, and led the AL in batting (.388) and hits (239).

Before there were lockouts and strikes, there was Lyman Bostock

Thanks for reading, Robert

My top 25 sets #13: 1990-91 Upper Deck Hockey

Set 1990-91 Upper Deck Hockey
Number of cards in set: 400 (low series) 150 (high series)
Affordability: 9.5
Key RCs:  Jaromir Jagr, Mats Sundin (low), Pavel Bure, Sergei Fedorov (High)
Is the set built?:   Many times over.

What I like about this set:  This is the set that introduced me back into collecting in late 1990. Even though this set is the epitome of the overproduction era (I once owned 15 full sets of these cards..), it is still a classic.  The design is clean, the back has up to 5 years of stats with a 2nd full photo.  Speaking of photos, some of the photos in this set (see Bob Probert card here to get an idea of what I mean) feature the best hockey photography ever.

Late to the party?  No problem, shouldn't cost you but a couple of week's budgets (for my blog anyhow) to complete this set.

What I don't like about this set:  The true 'purist' would love to see a complete set of stats for each player on the back, but with that leaves no photo.  In other words, there's not a whole lot wrong with this set, outside of letting the presses roll.

For me, 90-91 UD hockey is what got me back into collecting over 20 years ago.  I feasted on this set heartily, and will have a soft spot for it for many years to come.  While it may not remain on the top 25 over the coming years, it will always be a reminder of a crazy time in the sports card world.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Just shut it down already

When the No Hockey League and the No Hockey League Players Association can't even decide if they've had a meeting or not, it's time to give up on the season.

Check out this tweet from Darren Dreger of TSN Canada:

How pathetic has this stalemate become for me?  I've been a hockey fan for 40 years now, and I don't even care if they come back this year.  If they do, I will not watch. 

48 games...not worth my time...

thanks for reading, Robert

My top 25 sets #14: 2007-08 OPC hockey

Set: 2007-08 OPC hockey
Number of cards in set: 600
Affordability: 9
Key RCs: Johnathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Carey Price
Is the set built?:   240/600

What I like about this set:  I like the half gold, half black front design.  The team logo in the lower right is not oversized and doesn't distract from the player photo.  What stands out for me on these cards is the back of the short printed cards.  Instead of just the gray back with stats and information, the backs are in color, and feature a photo as well.  For me, this makes the rookie cards stand out from the rest of the base set, which I believe they should.

This set is numbered in alphabetical order by team also, making it a little easier (if you don't have the checklists) to figure out what team/player is potentially missing.  Numbering by team also looks a lot better when you put the set in binder pages as well.  

What I don't like about this set:   The card stock on the back is a little too dark and makes them tough to read at times.  No bios on the back as well, similar to the 2008-09 set.

What makes this set have even more potential is that beyond the big 3 RCs (Price, Toews, Kane), there are many other players whose cards are undervalued in my opinion.  Guys such as Bobby Ryan, Milan Lucic and Nicklas Backstrom all are top talents and have long careers ahead of them, which is a good reason to acquire this set before their card values rise.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Dave Stieb is no Tim "the tool man" Taylor

But his slider certainly sawed through a few bats in his day!!  Leave it up to Nick at the "veteran" Dime Boxes blog to send me something that's going to leave me in a quandary.

One thing I've learned since I started blogging is that you have to expect the unexpected.  This card that Nick sent me, is evidence of this.   Take a look at this 1986 True Value Dave Stieb:

Now, here's the back of the card/envelope.  As you can clearly see it's unopened.

Help a brother out here.  Is the card of Dave Stieb inside, or am I going to open the envelope up and find a set of lock washers or a key of some sort?  I've never seen anything like this before.  With a little research I found out that the set is 30 cards, and features a good selection of players including George Brett, Andre Dawson, Robin Yount, Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan and Reggie Jackson. 

The first place I went to hunt for these cards is trading card database.com, where I found the image of Steve Garvey's card, front and back. 

I would feel better about opening the envelope if I knew that Stieb's card is inside. 

Any knowledge about these would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading, Robert

My top 25 sets #15: 2008-09 OPC Hockey

Card #53

Set 2008-09 OPC
Number of cards in set: 600 base + 200 update
Affordability: 8.5
Key RCs:  Claude Giroux (base), Steven Stamkos (update)
Is the set built?:   518/600 base.  Undecided on whether I will build the update

What I like about this set:  The size for one thing.  I've always enjoyed the challenge of building larger sets, and this set does not disappoint.  The update set was released to capture a couple of key RCs that UD didn't release in the base set.  Good thing, because the Stamkos and Doughty RC's will be strong sellers for years to come.

The front of the card in my opinion is a good design.  I like the team logo in the circle on the lower right, and the bottom of the card is colored to match the team's predominant color (blue for the Sabres in the Ryan Miller example above).  The back features a nice bright card stock, which makes the cards very easy to read.

What sets the OPC releases apart as well is the year is printed on the bottom of the back of the card.  For newbies, and even for old vets such as myself, this allows for very little guesswork in determining what year the card is from. 

What I don't like about this set: Would have been great to see OPC use some of the empty space on the backs of the cards to feature some kind of short bio on the players.  The 200 card update set, even though it is full of good rookies, makes the set too big in my opinion.  800 cards is a little bit of overkill.

In my opinion, Upper Deck has done a good job with the OPC releases over the past few years.  Kudos to them for picking up the name, and keeping a hobby classic alive.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Another set bites the dust...

2012 Topps Series 2 is done.  Finally.  I have a wantlist up for the Update series, I think I need about a third of the set to finish off this years flagship.

For those who don't feel like checking my wantlist, here's a list of what I need for update...

3,5,8,12,16,18,23,26,27,29,35,36,37,40,44,45,48,59,60,66,68,70,72,73,77,80,83,84,91,95,96,97,98,
100,103,106,107,109,110,114,116,117,118,120,125,127,128,129,131,134,139,145,147,150,152,157,
159,166,167,171,173,174,175,181,185,187,188,192,195,204,205,209,214,215,218,222,224,225,227,
230,233,234,236,249,251,253,255,256,259,264,270,274,277,279,283,284,285,290,293,297,300,301,
306,308,309,311,313,315,319,322,324,326,330

What left me scratching my head about the final card that I needed to finish series 2 was the thought that I had seen the card before when it arrived in the mail last week.

Here's the card I needed...

Here's why I thought I had seen it before:

#250/2012

OK good, I wasn't going crazy.  Don't need it for the insanity though...any fans of the north siders out there need it?  If so, drop a comment and I'm sure we can work something out.

Likely not going to reach the goal of 25 sets completed by the end of December, but I know that I have at least made some progress this year, especially on some older sets that I've been trying to clean up for a long time.  Nineteen is not a bad number...

There's always 2013.....

Thanks for reading, Robert

My top 25 sets #16: 1976 Topps baseball

Set 1976 Topps
Number of cards in set: 660
Affordability: 6.5
Key RCs:  Dennis Eckersley
Is the set built?:   Just started, see below...

What I like about this set:  The fronts are color coded, similar to the '75 set.   The set size at 660 cards is comprehensive enough to include most of the players from all 24 MLB teams.  The ball on the back which contains the card number, along with the bat is a unique combination that I don't remember on too many Topps issues  (Topps has put the card number in a baseball before..)  The cartoons on the back are interesting, but depict historical records instead of information about the player on the card. 

What I don't like about this set:  The dark green back section that contains the stats, which are written in black ink, can be very difficult to read in poor lighting.  The lot I bought doesn't really contain any action shots...though that may change as I collect and discover more of this set.

This set was a late addition to the countdown, but merits a strong position for the simple fact that it is a simple and classic set.  I still haven't organized the box of cards that I received in November, but I figure that my set is about 30% complete.  The affordability score drops because there are a lot of star cards ( I count 16 of them) in the set that are $10 and up.  This is going to be a fun challenge as well to put this set together, and if I can get lucky and get a couple more lots as cheap as I did the first one, then the set will not break the bank.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Blue Jay Monday: A tribute to the past from modern sets

The past decade has seen multiple efforts from Topps to recreate the love of their older sets.  Heritage of course being the flagship effort, with other releases such as Archives and Fan Favorites also promoting prior designs with current players.

I decided to make this Blue Jay Monday effort about a few cards that I received from Pat at the Hot Corner blog that relived the past.

First, from the 2012 Heritage release, comes this '63 sticker insert of Jose Bautista

Although I am not too sure that Jose was happy to have had his picture taken here, I can admire a man that is able to grow a full beard in 3 days like Joey Bats can (to me it seems that way..what do you think?)  The '63/'12 set is one that I haven't gained a full appreciation of as of yet, maybe it's because I like the backs more than I do the fronts.  I'm sure that is something that will change over time, but for now, I will not be chasing either of those sets.

The next two cards come from the 2012 Topps Archives set (or Heritage lite as I've called it...)

With Topps limiting the number of SPs in the set to 40 (41 with the Harper RC), I was very surprised that the Jays were represented twice.  I've spoken many times about the duo you see above, so I will not bore you with more.  All I'll say is that it's nice to have these 2 short prints as part of the overall Jays collection here.

Pat, thanks again!!  I'll be sure to get you something in return as soon as I can...

thanks for reading, Robert

My top 25 sets # 17: 1983-84 OPC Hockey

Set: 1983-84 OPC Hockey
Number of cards in set: 396
Affordability: 8.5
Key RCs: Pelle Lindbergh, Scott Stevens, Steve Larmer, Bernie Nicholls, Guy Carbonneau,
Is the set built?:    See below

What I like about this set:  396 cards is a great set size, especially when you're putting them in pages (exactly 44 pages needed).  A lot of great rookies in this set, and at $20, the Lindbergh is a great card at a decent price.  The stick blade and puck design that house the players position and team logo do not detract from the photo of the player.   For the collector on a budget, this set is very affordable for a 30 year old set, and probably will remain that way for many years to come with no "huge" RCs to speak of, unlike many other 80's OPC sets.

What I don't like about this set:  Being absolutely nit-picky, the green lettering on top of the green background on the back of the cards can be a little difficult to read sometimes. 


This set represents one of the 2 biggest mistakes I've made when it comes to card collecting.  I had this set about half complete about 12-13 years ago, and I sold off the cards.   I don't even remember why.  I have maybe a handful of cards, and this set will be another project to complete, especially since it is so affordable.

Thanks for reading, Robert

The November project purchase #6: '62 Topps lot of 30

This set definitely came under my radar when the 2011 Heritage set was released.  I really don't know a whole lot about the Topps releases from the 1960's, so Heritage over the past 3-4 years has really been a help in that regard.

Number of cards in lot: 30
Total amount spent: $17.27 (Shipping was free)  There is now $13.47 left out of the original $100.
Seller: eddieplank

For me, this lot was an absolute steal.  30 commons for less than 60 cents apiece is a great deal.  The backs of the cards are in great condition, no stains or pen marks.  The corners on all the cards are in decent shape as well. 

The '62 set is going to be a costly one if I decide to build it, with there being at least a bakers dozen worth of cards that list for $100+ in NM condition.  There are other vintage sets that need completed first ('64 for example) before I'll even start to tackle this one.

But dabbling here and there isn't bad either...

Thanks for reading, Robert

My top 25 sets #18: 2009 OPC Baseball

Set: 2009 OPC baseball
Number of cards in set:  600
Affordability:  9.5
Key RCs: David Freese, Rick Porcello, James McDonald,
Is the set built?:    100% complete

What I like about this set:  600 cards is an instant lure for me.  The SPs #'d 501-600 are not pricey at all, with the most expensive listing being the David Freese at $6.  The ballpark cards are a big favorite as well, along with the league leader cards.  The only insert set that I really cared about was the OPC Retro cards, and that was only because they had a similar design to one of the best hockey sets ever produced, 79-80 OPC/Topps.  

What I don't like about this set:  I have no qualms about the black bordered parallels, you know my affinity for parallel sets.  But releasing a 2nd black bordered mini set was a little much for me.  The rest of the inserts that weren't the OPC retro were boring to me.  

To be honest, in my first year of this blog, this was one set build that really kept me going.  600 cards was a challenge to put together, and I bought a lot of packs to prove it.  The hockey sets over the past 6 years are very similar, and if UD hadn't lost its license, it probably still could have produced this set over the past couple of years. 

Thanks for reading, Robert

2x3=9

Sometimes, blog post titles are just too easy.  I still owe the very generous Jeff over at 2x3 heroes some cards in return for the great deal of insanity he sent my way.  Included was this little beauty...

I thought this guy was a corner back?

Why so special?  It's serial #'d 23/150.  The card completes my 6th page of insanity!!  Take a look...

7 different bloggers contributed to this page, with Dennis at Too Many Grandersons Verlanders contributing 2 of them (the Drese and Loretta).  6 pages down, 160 to go....no sweat.

If you're wondering why I didn't entitle the post "2x3=6" (the 6 would have been appropriate because this is the 6th page completed), well, everyone already knows that 2x3=6. 

At least 2x3=9 makes you wonder a little before opening.

Thank you Jeff!!

Thanks for reading, Robert